Chapter 80

Jack took four pictures that I wouldn't mind framing and hanging in the hallway. The rest were very private; a couple of them would make a porn star blush. Those went on my hard drive in a password protected folder. It took a lot for me to hand the memory card back to Jack without reformatting it. Both of us could get into a lot of trouble if those pictures found their way into the wrong hands. And we all know how easy it would be for them to end up on the Internet.

I wanted to say something when I gave him the card but I didn't. I either trusted him or I didn't and asking him not to abuse that trust would either be an insult or would make no difference if he wasn't the man I thought he was.

He held it in front of him and glanced down at it. "You don't have to give me this, you know. I could wipe it and you'd still have the pictures on your laptop."

"No, they're for you just as much as they are for me. I don't want you to have to use my laptop every time you want to see them."

He kissed the card, put it in his pocket and put his arms around me. I moved into him, my cheek on his shoulder and my face buried in his neck. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll take care of it."

Jack had become quite unprofessional the more we got into it last night, touching, licking, kissing, claiming he was posing me for the camera. He finally threw the camera down on the bed just before he threw me down. It was great!

I had been in such a hurry to get ready for the pictures that I forgot to set up the coffee maker. I spent the two or three minutes I should have put in last night to get it ready to brew, then watched it take forever to make a pot so I could have my first cup. Talk about agony. They say a watched pot never boils. That goes double when you're dying for a cup of coffee. All because I was lazy.

While I was waiting, I thought about what made me do it. My quick answer was because I wanted to, that I had an urge to let Jack take pictures of me. But it had to be more than that. Why did I let him take pictures of me that would get me excommunicated and sentenced to an eternity of hellfire and damnation, if I believed in that sort of thing?

I thought back on a conversation we had. Well, maybe more of a lecture; it was pretty one sided. I remembered all the times he tried to respond and I cut him off. It pretty much boiled down to 'If a guy gets taken care of at home, there's no reason for him to look elsewhere.' Jack's recent activity had upped the odds. He was spending his time making women look beautiful. More beautiful than they ever imagined they could be. It was bound to create some grateful women.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Julie's nudes that got to me. I'd seen the pictures of her and Eric and I knew where her heart was. There was no sexuality displayed in the pictures of her on the horse. More than ever before she was one with the animal. The last barrier had been removed. The sheer joy on her face in that picture of her on his back had nothing to do with Jack. Sure, Jack is the one who got her to reveal what she'd hidden inside and convinced her to follow through with it and let it out, but once she got on Billy Boy, Jack could have been invisible. The way she hung onto him in the second shot would have erased any doubts anyone may have had about that. Billy Boy was number one, Eric was second and Jack was an almost forgotten 'might have been'.

The picture that hit me right between the eyes was the one of Gina. Mom and Daddy saw it, as did Mary. And Charlie definitely saw it. The younger two may not have recognized what was behind it but Mom and Daddy did. I'm sure Jack was telling the truth when he said he got her into the mood by having her try to prevent her boyfriend from taking off but her boyfriend wasn't the person she was thinking about when he took that shot. I know Gina, and I know she's not that good an actress. And I know Jack would never believe it if I told him.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't strictly defensive on my part. I wanted some of that attention the others got. I've got the genes, I know I look good and I know he thinks I'm beautiful. I had a fantastic time baring my body for his camera. And when he lost it and had to do me right then, I loved it. Because I knew he would never allow himself to let go like that with anyone but me.

Jack came out of the shower. When I told him the coffee looked like it would be another minute or two, he said, "I thought we just got a new coffee pot."

"We did. But you've got the same old ditz making the coffee. I forgot to get it ready last night."

He opened his mouth, then thought for a second. "Oh. I guess I can let it go this time."

I stuck my tongue out. "That's big of you. Just for that, you can pour your own coffee."

I filled my mug and went into the bathroom.

I did my usual morning things, got a second cup when I came out of the bathroom and took it into the bedroom with me. Jack was already dressed and was doing something at his computer.

I got dressed, finished my coffee and put the cup in the dishwasher and fed Bozo. Still no sign of that stupid mouse. I grabbed an apple for breakfast.

Jack had a new background on his desktop.

"Pretty snazzy," I said.

"I didn't want to make the same mistake George did. I figure it looks a lot better to have a picture I took on the screen than something Bill Gates put together."

"That's, what? The second shot you took?"

"Yep."

"You should see if you can move the recycle bin from my face."

"I will. Don't take it personally. I'm not done yet."

The picture was of me in my multi-layered nightie, lying on the bed. Jack had taken a minute to pose me. The nightie was perfect, not bunched up like it normally would be. My hair was arranged, spilling over my top shoulder. Jack stood back and took a picture of me. Then he said, "God, I love you." Then, so I had to strain to hear, "So beautiful." He paused a split second and then took the shot.

He's so good at coaxing that perfect picture from someone. When he declared his love for me, I felt warm inside. When I "overheard" him praising my beauty, it seemed to overflow. The picture showed my love, my joy at being there, all the emotions that went with being with my love. And he was able to get that on the second picture.

"You know, speaking of George, I said I didn't have anything going this afternoon. We may have to go over there and take some pictures."

"That's right. We can still do it if you don't mind riding with Myra and me when we go shopping."

"I don't mind. The only problem I can see is having enough time to make dinner for Julie."

"That's simple enough. We can just pick up one of those six foot pizzas at Sam's."

"I don't think they're quite six feet."

"Whatever. I'm sure they're big enough for the three of us."

"Are you sure she won't mind?"

"Julie? Come on. She's a senior in high school. You think she's going to mind pizza for dinner?"

"You're right. When I think of having people over for dinner, I think of when I was living with Daddy."

"I think the people our age are a lot less discriminating. And a lot more forgiving. Quantity is right up there, maybe even a little senior to quality."

"OK. Pizza will be fine. I'll call George this afternoon and see if there's anything going on and I'll go with you guys if there is."

The phone rang and I went into the bedroom to answer it. Charlie was ready to leave.

He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when I went down.

"If you were going to keep going to school and I was going to keep on driving, I believe I'd put a bell down here somewhere."

"Like they used to have outside the schoolhouse?"

"Yeah. You got it. It would save me a phone call, just ring the bell."

After we got going, I pulled out my laptop. I liked the way the picture looked on the desk monitor and decided I'd show it to a few people at school.

"Did you find out anything about Wanda?" Charlie asked.

"Nah. It's up to her. She turned off her phone and that's the only way I had to get hold of her. If she's not at school over the next couple of days, she's going to have to call me or come over if she wants to talk to me."

"I thought maybe your father knew something."

"As far as I know, the last they had to do with one another was when she was screaming and tossing liquids at him. If he calls, I'll ask. We'll both see him Thursday, anyway."

"I don't know. It just doesn't seem like Wanda."

"Are you kidding? It's exactly like Wanda. Before, a couple of girls called her an easy lay and she completely withdrew from everyone at school, male and female. Now, she's probably built this whole thing into a big conspiracy including Daddy, me, you, Jack, Mary and anyone else she can think of. Sooner or later she'll find someone else she thinks she's in love with and everything will go back to normal again."

"I don't know. I guess you know her better than I do."

"I can tell you exactly what happened. She got pissed off at Daddy, figured he'd try to call her to make up and turned off her cell. She probably took it in the next day and got a new number. I just hope she found a place to stay. I can just see her trying to live out of her car. That would be real stupid."

"You don't think anything happened to her, do you?"

"I don't know. She hasn't made any effort to talk to me and I don't know where she is. What do you want me to do, Charlie?"

"I don't know. It's just that you always seem to be able to fix everything."

"Yeah, well, I don't know what needs to be fixed. I'm certainly not going to try to get her and my father back together. That was a disaster waiting to happen before and I'm not going to encourage it again. Once is enough."

He turned into the senior lot and found a space. I turned my laptop around so he could see it.

"Look at what Jack did."

"Wow. He took that? It's Gooood!"

"It took two pictures for him to get that. He's a lot better than good. You should see some of the others he took after this. But you never will."

"Oh. That kind."

"Umm hmmm."

He laughed. "You're something else, Jill. I'm going to miss riding back and forth to school with you."

"I'm sure we'll still see each other at the house."

"Yeah, but this time is different. It's just the two of us. We've both talked about things we wouldn't have if others were around."

"Charlie, you know I'm always here if you need anything."

"I know that. It's just that you're my Bud. I miss our Bud time, when it's just you and me. Even if it's just shooting the shit, it's special."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's what happens when we grow up. I know what you're saying, but I've got my things and you've got yours. But I am here if you need me. Just like you are if I need you."

"Forever, Jill. You know that."

It felt weird going to school. Kind of a "Why bother?" feeling. I had assignments that had to be completed to earn credit in all my classes but they had nothing to do with what was going on the last two days I was there. It was very similar to the situation in PE now that volleyball was technically over.

I saw Julie before Creative Writing. She told me that Myra had brought the CD of proofs over and she couldn't believe how good they looked. She was afraid she was going to need more prints than Jack had included in the package. I told her we were going to get more paper and ink after school and that I'd have Jack get extra. I checked with her about dinner and she said pizza was fine.

I showed a couple of girls my laptop in volleyball. Pretty soon everybody was gathered around, ooohing and aaahing. I showed them the other three shots of me with the layered nightgown. Beth noticed the folder in with them and asked what it was.

"Those are personal."

There was a bunch of laughing and sneering until someone realized that if Jack took naughty pictures of me, maybe he would take them of somebody else.

"He's already taken a couple of semi-nudes of one person. They were very tasteful. And very beautiful."